Daily Readings - Mon Jun 26 2023
Genesis
1Then the Lord said to Abram: "Depart from your land, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, and come into the land that I will show you2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and magnify your name, and you will be blessed3I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.4And so Abram departed just as the Lord had instructed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran5And he took his wife Sarai, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all the substance which they had come to possess, and the lives which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed in order to go to the land of Canaan. And when they arrived in it6Abram passed through the land even to the place of Shechem, as far as the famous steep valley. Now at that time, the Canaanite was in the land7Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and he said to him, "To your offspring, I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him8And passing on from there to a mountain, which was opposite the east of Bethel, he pitched his tent there, having Bethel to the west, and Hai on the east. He also built an altar there to the Lord, and he called upon his name9And Abram traveled, going out and continuing further on, toward the south
Matthew
1"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged2For with whatever judgment you judge, so shall you be judged; and with whatever measure you measure out, so shall it be measured back to you3And how can you see the splinter in your brother’s eye, and not see the board in your own eye4Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter from your eye,’ while, behold, a board is in your own eye5Hypocrite, first remove the board from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye
Sermon
In today's readings, we encounter two profound moments of faith and reflection. The first reading from Genesis tells the story of Abram, who, at the age of seventy-five, is called by God to leave his home, family, and everything familiar. This call is a testament to Abram's trust in God's promise to make him the father of a great nation. The passage highlights Abram's obedience and faith as he journeys to an unknown land, building altars along the way to honor God. This act of faith sets the stage for the covenant between God and His people, showcasing trust and obedience as foundational virtues.
The Gospel reading from Matthew shifts our focus to Jesus' teachings on judgment and self-reflection. Jesus warns against judging others, emphasizing that we will be judged by the same standards we use on others. He humorously illustrates this with the image of trying to remove a splinter from someone else's eye while having a plank in one's own. This teaching underscores the importance of humility and self-awareness, urging us to examine our own lives before criticizing others.
These readings, though separated by time, are connected by themes of faith and self-awareness. Abram's journey exemplifies trusting in God's plan, while Jesus' teaching calls us to introspection and humility. Together, they remind us to embrace faith with obedience and to approach others with compassion rather than judgment. In our daily lives, this means trusting God's plan and humbly examining our own actions before evaluating others. The moral lesson here is clear: true faith is accompanied by humility and self-reflection, leading us to live with integrity and grace.